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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Christina McHale's way back to the top

After a
difficult 2013 when injuries and the recovery from mononucleosis held her back,
Christina McHale is finally bouncing back in this 2014, looking as determined
as never before.

A small
injury slowed her preparation for Wimbledon, as in the last training session
before the ITF event of Nottingham, she slipped during sprints, falling heavily
on her hand, which did not let her play for a couple of days.

The healing
took a few days, but she managed to compete the following weeks, coming to Wimbledon with a bunch of matches played on green.

“It is
definitely going in the right direction,” she said: “I think it was the right
decision to pull out of Nottingham, because I
was in quite a lot a pain, but I think it’s slowly getting better again.”

Having
proved to be an all-round player with several good performances in each slam
and on every surface, the girl from New
Jersey has her worst wins-losses ratio on grass.

“I mean, I
think part of the reason is ‘cause there are not many tournaments on grass,”
she explained: “So I feel like by the time I get really used to it, it’s over.

“But, well
two years ago, I did make a third round in Wimbledon,
so I do feel I have had good matches on the grass, probably just not enough
matches.”

Since that
2012 when she reached the third round in three consecutive slams, she had been
struggling with a serious form of mono, that seemed to arrest her improvements.

“It was
tough…it’s really like something some people don’t really realize, that once
you actually get over it, then the time you need to get back in full strength
takes a long time,” she said with a slightly trembling voice, a sign of how
hard it has been for her.

“So, I
think I’m so happy to be over that and I think also I’m back now working with
my old coaches again it is making many differences as well.”

And the
difference is that this year she came very close to capturing her very first
WTA title, as she reached her first final in Acapulco, losing in three sets to Australian
Open runner-up, Dominika Cibulkova.

“ I think
I’m getting closer, that was definitely a very close match, it was a really
good week for me,” she acknowledged.

“And then,
you know, like in Strasbourg,
I made the semis and almost made the final as I had a match point. I’m putting
myself in more opportunities and I think the more I’ll do that, it’ll just
naturally come on its own.”

Not only
the first title is coming closer, but her old habit of upsetting big names –she
has wins over Victoria Azarenka, Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova- is
about to come back too, as testified by her match against Maria Sharapova in
Madrid, when she was a break up in the decisive set.

“I
definitely took a lot away from that match even though I lost,” she admitted:
“It was disappointing. But it reassured myself that I can compete against the
top girls, and it gave me confidence and in my next matches in Rome I carried that over.

“So I took
a lot from that and hopefully, yeah, I can just keep building and improving my
game and hopefully get there, one day.”

After her
big battles this year and the surprising results of many up and coming youngsters
at Roland Garros, more and more players believe that beating the top names is
not impossible after all.

“I think,
when you see someone, you know, like the top seeds pulling out against players
that are around my age or that I’ve played against. So you think, if they can
do it, then I can do it too. So it’s really inspirational to see them doing
such things,” she said.

Moreover,
the new wave of American youngsters doing well is a great support.

“I
definitely think so, there is a lot of us, who are trying to push through right
now,” she admitted: “A lot of the Americans girls we practice together in Boca,
in Florida…so it’s really a competition, we push each other every day, so I
think that has really helped us and, yeah, I think especially Sloane, she is
really doing well a lot, Madison, Lauren, me… so I think it’s like kinda
pushing each other.”

But it is
not just a matter of training, there is also a good relationship that grew
stronger with the years.

“I think
that American girls in general get along really well,” she said: “I think we,
you know…obviously if we play each other it’s a different story, we are rivals.
But I think that off the court we get along pretty well, I mean, we see each
other all the time, so it’s nice to have, you know, friendships with them.”

Having
achieved the same success in all the slams and so in all surfaces, one would
expect her to find it hard to pick a favourite one, but she has no doubts about
it:

“It’s
hardcourt. I just feel the most comfortable on it cause I grew up playing on
hardcourt. But I mean, yeah, I’d say clay it’s my second and then maybe grass
is my third for right now, but it could change.”

Also tournament
wise, the choice was easy:

“The Us
Open! Yeah, I don’t have to think about it. I actually live really close to
that, like 20 minutes away. So I used to practice there all the time, so for me
it’s like my home tournament. I really love it.”

Around the
world is very common for players whose native language is not English to
communicate with coaches in that language, but not so for the 22 year old, who
speaks a beautiful Spanish during the changeovers.

“My mum is
Cuban,” she explained: “My physio is Argentinean and my coach is also
Argentinean, so yeah, I speak Spanish a lot to them and to my mum.”

She also
told me that speaking Spanish, even in the world of tennis, can come in hand
very often:

“Yeah, I
mean, it was useful in Madrid, like, I just communicate in Acapulco and Mexico,
like I just communicate with everyone and all the people there or also many
players speak Spanish, so that’s really helpful and all in that aspect.”

Despite the
young age, she has had a great deal of experiences, but there is one that so
far is her most memorable.

“I would
say I go with the Olympics. That was really really cool, like nothing has
compared to that, like the opening ceremony and just being with all the other
athletes, it was unreal, yeah.”

So after a
look back, it is time to look ahead and what lies in her future plans.

“I mean, I
definitely would… I want to try and win a WTA tournament, that would be a good
goal for me.” She admitted: “But I mean, if I just keep on working on the same
way I’ve been working, just really focus on what I need to improve and get more
power in my game, things like that.

“I feel
like naturally the results will start coming. So, yeah, that would be like my tournament-wise
goal, but on a more day to day basis it is just doing the right things, my
fitness, my tennis every day.”